English Department Course Descriptions
Spring 2008
ENGL 030
Writing Laboratory
Section A: By Appointment--D. Murray and staff
Enroll during drop/add only in ECS 122D. Laboratory practice of the writing process. Regular sections are for
students enrolled in Expository Writing 1 or 2. (Walk-in sections are for undergraduate students who wish to improve their
writing skills.) Hours are not applicable toward degree requirements. Prerequisite: Consent of student's Expository Writing
instructor and Writing Laboratory staff.
ENGL 125
Honors English II
Section A: TU 9:30-10:45--D. Hall (Obtain Permission from the Honors Program in Leasure 007)
Jefferson’s “Declaration of Independence” assumed (held to be “self evident”) that everyone was endowed with
“inalienable rights.” What did he mean by that? Where did the idea come from? Do rights really exist? What do we mean
by “civil” rights?
This course will interrogate the concept of rights and explore concepts of freedom and conscience. We will read,
discuss, and respond in writing to some of the important historical issues of political freedom and discuss their applicability
to civil rights issues. The course will include a brief history of the concept of rights, including discussions of current issues of
human rights around the world and in the United States. We will spend some time looking at current US foreign and
domestic policies in the light of rights issues. Yes, the Patriot Act, the war on Terror, and the war in Iraq will be focal points
during this part of the course.
We will use selections from relevant texts as well as documents archived on the World Wide Web and contemporary
discussions of related issues in periodicals such as the Washington Post and NY Times. Emphases on critical reading and
thinking, analysis and argument, persuasion, and clear prose.
Course Requirements: Four papers ranging from 800 to 1200 words in length and one final paper of perhaps 1500
words (though many students’ final papers end up much longer). Participation in discussion and workshops as well as the
maturity to realize that revision is integral to improving writing are expected. Some of these issues are highly controversial,
and there will, no doubt, by strongly held differences of opinion. Therefore, I remind students that civility in class discussion
and in student writing are also expected.
ENGL 220
Fiction Into Film
Section A: MWF 12:30--Staff
"Fiction Into Film" will explore various aspects of both fiction (as a genre of literature) and film (as a medium) in order
to understand how stories, novels, and graphic novels translate into films. English 220 is a General Education course.
ENGL 231
Medieval & Renaissance Humanities
Section A: MWF 12:30; Section B: MWF 1:30--M. Donnelly
An introductory survey of some significant developments in the literature, history, philosophy, art, and music of
Western Europe, with emphasis on Italy, France, England, and Germany, from the end of the Ancient World to the beginning
of the seventeenth century: the course will examine selected landmarks of art and culture in an attempt to understand the
character and contributions of the European mind and spirit in the Medieval period and the Renaissance. Requirements: one
or two hour exams; identification and comment on slides and musical selections, and a final examination. English 231 is a
General Education course and a Primary Texts course. It will also satisfy either the Western Humanities or the
Literary/Rhetorical Arts requirements.
ENGL 234
Modern Humanities
Section A: MWF 10:30--S. Caldwell-Hancock
This course explores an exciting time in human history. We will begin our discussion with the period leading to the French
Revolution in 1789 and end with the Cold War. The course is divided roughly into thirds: The first will concentrate on how
Enlightenment ideas led to the sense of self that was the hallmark of Romanticism. The second section of the course
concentrates on the Industrial Revolution and the emergence of ideas that questioned the centrality of the human
consciousness: Marxism, the theory of evolution, and Freudian psychology. The last third examines the consequences of
these central ideas, the shock of World War I, and the emergence of Modernism and Post-Modernism. Through all three
sections we will examine literature, art, and music in an effort to understand major styles, periods, and movements, and how
cultural output both reflects and influences historical events and ideas. Students will take two mid-term exams and a
comprehensive final exam and will write two papers. In-class discussions and homework assignments are also required.
English 234 is a General Education course and a Primary Texts course. It will also satisfy either the Western Humanities or
the Literary/Rhetorical Arts requirements.
ENGL 251
Introduction to Literature (non-majors)
Section A: MWF 8:30--Staff; Section B: MWF 11:30; Section C: MWF 12:30--S. Gray; Section D: MWF 1:30--Staff;
Section E: MWF 2:30--S. Anderson; Section F: TU 8:05-9:20--Staff
The study of fiction, drama, poetry, and (possibly) nonfiction. Students may write papers, take exams, participate in
listserve discussions, or prepare group oral reports while gaining experience in reading, writing, and critical thinking.
ENGL 251
Introduction to Literature (non-majors)
Section G: TU 8:05-9:20; Section H: TU 9:30-10:45--R. Mosher
Primary aims of this course include honing students’ ability to read deeply, analytically, and actively. Course aims are
achieved through thinking, talking, and writing about prose, poetry, and drama. Students’ active participation is required in:
class discussions, daily out-of class exercises, several short and one long analytical papers, two “exams,” and an oral
presentation.
ENGL 262
British Literature: Enlightenment to Modern (Non-majors)
Section A: MWF 9:30--D. Murray
This is a survey course in British literature for non-majors. Its primary purpose is to expose you to texts from the
literary periods this survey covers [roughly 1660 through the 20th century] in an effort to cultivate an ongoing interest in
British literature, history, and culture. A secondary aim of this course is the cultivation of intellectual curiosity: toward this
aim, daily work in this course includes asking (& answering) insightful questions which should lead to a richer understanding
of the works in question. Assignments include three exams, homework, and participation in a formal small-group discussion.
English 262 is a General Education course.
ENGL 270
American Literature & The Gothic
Section A: MWF 8:30; Section B: MWF 9:30--T. Gonzalez
This course is a survey of American literature from the 19th Century to the present. We will look at American fiction that
has some relationship to the gothic as it is understood in literary criticism and the popular imagination. As we read short
stories and novels, we will ask the following questions:
What is gothic fiction? Is it simply a way to classify the strange and weird in literature? What is its relationship between
the gothic and murder, madness, and monsters in fiction? How can we recognize and talk about gothic literature? And is there
something inherently gothic about American literature (and American life)?
We will read works by Herman Melville, Edgar Allen Poe, Ralph Ellison, Flannery O’Connor, William Faulkner,
Cristina García, Toni Morrison, and Octavia Butler. Requirements for this course are active class participation, a midterm
and final exam, and two short essays. English 270 is a General Education course.
ENGL 287
Great Books
Section A: MWF 9:30--S. Caldwell-Hancock; Section B: TU 2:30-3:45--H. Nelson
This course, as an introduction to world classics, will entail close reading of works from ancient through modern
periods and will expose students to a variety of ideas and writing styles. We will also consider what makes a book “great” or
enduring. Texts will include works by Jane Austen, Homer, and Charles Dickens, and may also include the likes of Fielding,
Shakespeare, Cervantes, Dante, Milton, Bronte, Flaubert, Remarque, Woolf, Faulkner, Virgil, Euripides, or Hemingway,
among others. Students will participate in class discussion and message boards and will complete short written assignments
in addition to essay exams and one longer (5-7 pages) paper. English 287 is a General Education course and a Primary Texts
course.
ENGL 300
Expository Writing 3
Section A: MWF 2:30--D. Smit
Since this is a writing course, you will write. We will focus on how writing changes depending on purpose, genre conventions,
audience, discourse community, and context. You will write five major papers, all having to do in some way with visual media,
everything from advertisements to films. You will also do a number of exercises and take a number of quizzes on style, rhetoric, and
the material you need to know in order to write certain genres well. There will be no exams.
ENGL 300
Expository Writing 3
Section B: TU 9:30-10:45--P. Marzluf
Students will discuss, research, and write about possibly the most dominant cultural force in their lives, sports. Students
will write in various genres about the impact and consequences of sports on society and themselves; they will research the
growth of sports consumption and analyze how sports and athletics help people talk about issues such as race, class, and
gender. Course performance will be based upon five papers, including a memoir, a professional research report, and
responses and analyses. The course texts will be Robert Lipsyte’s Raider’s Night and a coursepack.
ENGL 310
Introduction to Literary Studies
Section A: MWF 9:30; Section B: MWF 10:30--D. Potts
Permission obtained from English Department, ECS 108, beginning 15 October 2007. An introduction to criticism
for English majors and minors. Intended as a first course in the analysis of form and technique, the course provides an
introduction to literary terms commonly used in later courses, and practice in critical interpretation as well as reading and
responding to literary criticism. Readings from a broad range: poems, plays, essays, and novels. A writing intensive course:
four major papers. Active participation required.
ENGL 310
Introduction to Literary Studies
Section C: TU 11:30-12:45--L. Tatonetti
Permission obtained from English Department, ECS 108, beginning 15 October 2007. English 310 is designed to
introduce English majors to the conventions of their chosen major and to provide them with intensive writing experience. In
this course, we will read a wide array of literature from differing periods and genres. These readings will be springboards for
the close textual analysis and research that will make up the bulk of the course work. Students will write 4 papers, research
and write an annotated bibliography, and take a final exam.
ENGL 310
Introduction to Literary Studies
Section D: TU 1:05-2:20--L. Brigham
Permission obtained from English Department, ECS 108, beginning 15 October 2007. An introduction to criticism
for English majors and minors. Intended as a first course in the analysis of form, style, and technique, the course provides an
introduction to literary terms commonly used in later courses, and practice in critical interpretation as well as reading and
responding, to literary criticism. Readings from a broad range: poems, plays, essays, and novels. A writing intensive
course; active participation required.
ENGL 315
Cultural Studies
Section A: MWF 1:30--D. Hedrick
This is a course introducing the new academic discipline of “Cultural Studies,” which is not the study of other cultures, but
rather of our “ordinary” or “everyday” life, including everything from entertainment to jobs, family and social life, consumption,
power, and social identity. Probably most of our time will be spent on “popular culture,” from TV shows to films to music to
sports to comics to celebrities to shopping. We will read, discuss, and learn about the concepts and methodologies of the field,
that introduce us to ways of thinking about the power relationships of class, gender, race, and sexuality. There will be
opportunities to discuss contemporary social arrangements, politics and policies, current events, and the means, if any, of resisting
or changing the status quo and its industries and means of power. In addition to readings there will be viewings, individual and
group exercises and reports, one or two papers or projects, and one or two hour exams plus a final, any part of which may be takehome. English 315 is a General Education course.
ENGL 315
Cultural Studies
Section B: TU 1:05-2:20--C. Hauck
This course will introduce students to some of the practices that constitute cultural studies. The only prerequisites are
Expository Writing 2, intellectual curiosity and an open mind. We will explore some key theoretical approaches, such as
Marxism, feminism, and psychoanalysis and see how they help us to understand everyday practices such as shopping,
watching TV, and deciphering the proliferating texts and images of post-modern American. I value regular attendance and
engaged student participation, so these will count toward your final grade. We will take one or more field trips and analyze
our experiences in writing. Two short essays and a final examination will round out the requirements for this course. English
315 is a General Education course.
ENGL 320
The Short Story
Section A: MWF 8:30--Staff; Section B: MWF 11:30; Section C: MWF 12:30----C. Debes ; Section D: MWF 1:30--C.
Russell; Section E: TU 11:30-12:45; Section F: TU 2:30-3:45--Staff
Study of short stories from world literature with emphasis on American, British, and Continental.
ENGL 330 The Novel
Section A: TU 1:05-2:20--A. Longmuir
We will study a range of novels from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, considering the history and development of
the form. Our readings will include examples of the following kinds of fiction: the novel of manners, the Bildungsroman,
adventure fiction, gothic fiction, and the modernist novel. Texts are likely to include Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice,
Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre, Robert Louis Stevenson’s Kidnapped, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, William Faulkner’s As I Lay
Dying, Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye, and Julian Barnes’s Flaubert’s Parrot.
Requirements: two short analytical papers, two in-class exams, quizzes, a research paper, and a final examination.
ENGL 340
Poetry
Section A: TU 1:05-2:20; Section B: TU 2:30-3:45--A. Reckling
This course introduces students to close readings of poems. Students learn terminology and critical methods for
identifying and evaluating the elements that comprise poems. Group discussions, interpretive papers, exams, original creative
work, and analysis of original work enable students to utilize a comprehensive arsenal of poetic terms and to discover the
architecture, insights, rigors, and pleasures of a wide range of poetry.
ENGL 350
Introduction to Shakespeare
Section A: MWF 1:30; Section B: MWF 2:30--K. Smith
Someone in the theatre once remarked that the villains get all the best lines. While that’s not altogether true, within the
corpus of Shakespeare’s plays some of the most indelible and memorable characters are also some of the most despicable:
characters whose depths of evil are matched only by their complexity and vividness. In this course we’ll be looking at the
ways in which some of Shakespeare’s more notable villains behave within the context of some of the playwright’s most
compelling plots. This doesn’t mean we’ll be focusing entirely on unrelieved evil. We’ll simply be using these villains as a
starting point from which to examine the motivations, personalities, plots, and complexly human aspects of this pre-eminent
English playwright’s work. In doing so we'll explore the slippery notion of how villains function in the plays, how they drive
the action, and how they help illuminate the difficulties of achieving a moral balance in a complicated world. The course will
emphasize class discussion. Other requirements may include in-class quizzes, two short papers, and two exams.
ENGL 350
Introduction to Shakespeare
Section C: W 7:05-9:55--D. Hedrick
So, why exactly is it that Shakespeare is supposed to be so great? We will read, see, and discuss (especially discuss)
selected Shakespeare plays representing the genres of comedy, tragedy, history, and romance, along with selected poetry, with a
view toward appreciating Shakespeare’s artistry, significance, and “radical imagination.” We will pay particular attention to the
expressive character of the language through such practices as “close-reading” and oral interpretation, we will think about how
the plays are transformed from “page” to “stage” as theatrical pieces, and we will note Shakespeare’s contemporary social and
political relevance, or lack of it, now. There will be two hour exams and a final, any part of which may be take-home, a mix of
regular exercises or quizzes or group work, and two short papers, one of which may be substituted with a scene presentation.
ENGL 355
Literature for Children
Section A: MWF 10:30; Section B: MWF 11:30--E. Hateley
Permission obtained from English Department, ECS 108, beginning 15 October 2007. In this course we will read a
variety of children’s texts, including fairy tales, novels, picture books, and films, in order to consider how our culture
imagines childhood and its value. For example, we will be reading a number of “Little Red Riding Hoods”; picture books by
Kay Thompson and Jon Scieszka; novels by Roald Dahl and Terry Pratchett; and films by Disney and others. You will have
an opportunity to present your ideas orally, via research papers, and through exams. Enrolment is by permission only (for
info, see <http://www.ksu.edu/english/courses/>). Priority is given to junior and senior Elementary Education majors, who
should have passed a college-level literature course prior to taking this one; spaces gladly given to non-Education majors if
available. English 355 is a General Education course.
ENGL 355
Literature for Children
Section C: MWF 11:30; Section D: MWF 12:30--P. Nel
Permission obtained from English Department, ECS 108, beginning 15 October 2007. Arranged by genre, this
section of Literature for Children is designed to introduce major genres in and conventions of literature for children, and to
develop critical skills for reading, thinking and writing about children’s literature and culture. Components of the course
include discussion of picture books, fairy tales, myths, poetry, fantasy, realism, and animal stories, among others. For a
representative syllabus and book-list, please see <http://www.ksu.edu/english/nelp/choose.courses.html>. Enrollment by
permission only: priority is given to junior and senior Elementary Education majors; spaces gladly given to non-Education
majors if available. English 355 is a General Education class.
ENGL 355
Literature for Children
Section E: TU 11:30-12:45--M. Glaser
Permission obtained from English Department, ECS 108, beginning 15 October 2007. Enrollment is by permission
only (for info, see <http: //www.ksu.edu/English/courses/>). Priority is given to junior and senior Elementary Education
majors who have passed a college-level literature course prior to taking this course; spaces gladly given to non-Education
majors if available. English 355 is a General Education Course.
This section of Literature for Children is designed to enable students to develop critical thinking skills through analysis
of children’s literature. Students will work to improve close reading skills and analytical writing abilities while expanding
their knowledge of different genres. The course requires that students examine a variety of texts in order to increase their
understanding of diverse cultures and appreciation for varied points of view. Genres include: poetry, picturebooks, fairy
tales, novels, short stories, non-fiction, and some critical theory. Authors may include: Maurice Sendak, Dr. Seuss, James
Marshall, Pam Muñoz Ryan, Lois Lowry, Leo Lionni, Katherine Paterson, Faith Ringgold, Shel Silverstein, Jack Prelutsky,
Chris Van Allsburg, Lewis Carroll, Rachel Isadora, and Andrew Clements. Requirements: participation, reading quizzes,
two papers, three exams, and a book project.
ENGL 361
British Survey I (majors)
Section A: MWF 9:30--M. Donnelly
A survey of British literature from its origins to about 1700, with special attention to the development of the lyric and the
evolution of English prose style; readings also in longer poems and plays; attention to representative figures and movements.
Strong emphasis on daily discussion. Two or three analytical papers on assigned topics, two hour exams comprised of
passages for explication or comment and longer essay questions, and a final examination. Text: Frank Kermode and John
Hollander, eds., The Oxford Anthology of English Literature, vol. 1 (New York, 1973). Recommended: The Sphere History
of English Language and Literature, vols. 1, 2, and 3, for backgrounds and critical essays on the course material.
ENGL 362
British Survey II (majors)
Section A: TU 9:30-10:45--C. Hauck
This course surveys approximately 350 years of British Literature, from 1660 to the present. Through the study of major
and minor writers, students will become familiar with the social and literary trends that characterize each of the four main
periods the course covers. Students will develop new strategies for reading literature that is decidedly “modern,” yet
linguistically distinct from the contemporary American idiom. I value regular attendance and engaged student participation,
so these will count toward your final grade, as will one in-class presentation, two midterm examinations and a final
examination.
ENGL 381
American Survey I (majors)
Section A: TU 11:30-12:45--D. Hall
Course designed to introduce English majors to the major issues and authors in American literature from its beginnings
through the American Romantics (approximately the American Civil War). Major authors include the Puritans Taylor and
Edwards, Franklin, Emerson, Poe, Hawthorne, and Melville though other writers will also be discussed.
Course Requirements: 1) Class attendance. 2) Class participation [when we do some of the poetry, individuals will be
assigned to read aloud; individuals are expected to lead class discussions when assigned]. 3) A take-home midterm exam
[unlike in-class exams, these are to be well-researched, documented, typed, edited, and well-written]. 4) Final in class. 5). A
term paper [8-10 pages on a topic arrived it at by mutual consent in a conference]. 6) Reading quizzes [as needed; hopefully
none will be needed]. 7) Participation on a class listserv answering prompts (questions asking you to speak on some of the
issues in the assigned readings). Tentative weighting of assignments is as follows: take-home midterm 15 %, final in-class
20 %, listserv participation 15 %, term paper 20 %, attendance/quizzes 15 %, class participation 15 %.
ENGL 382
American Survey II (majors)
Section A: TU 1:05-2:20--T. Dayton
This class is a survey of American literature for English and English Education majors, covering the period from the
Civil War to the present. We will focus on major developments in literature and culture as they relate to social changes in the
US during the historical period we cover. Major assignments: two or three exams and a research paper.
ENGL 385
“Trauma and Transcendence in U.S. Literatures”
Section A: TU 9:30-10:45--L. Tatonetti
This course will examine moments of historical upheaval in U.S. history and look at the literature that arose in response
to such events. We’ll begin in the 1830s with the literature of Indian Removal, move to the anti-slavery movement of the
early to mid-nineteenth century, and end the century with the literature and eye-witness accounts surrounding the Wounded
Knee massacre, an event often used to mark the end of the American “frontier.” We will trace a number of historical events
in the 20th and twenty-first centuries including literature surrounding Japanese Internment, Black Power, the Black Arts
Movement, Red Power, the American Indian Movement, and the Vietnam-era literature and protest movements to name only
a few. Texts may include work by: William Apess, Charles Eastman, Zitkala-Sa, Langston Hughes, Amiri Baraka, Julie
Otsuka, Tim O’Brien, Yusef Komunyakaa, Cherríe Moraga, Vine Deloria, and Sherman Alexie. Assignments will include
quizzes, exams, short papers, and a research project. English 385 is a General Education course.
ENGL 390
Fable and Fantasy
Section A: MWF 10:30; Section B: MWF 11:30--C. Franko
This semester we will analyze and enjoy fantasy-genre fiction selected mostly from the twentieth century. We will consider
the “story-shaped” worlds and narrative strategies of three or more variations of fantasy, including the old story retold; the
secondary world creation; and the “secret history” fantasy. Required texts thus far include Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of
Beauty and the Beast, by Robin Mckinley; The Lord of the Rings: 50th Anniversary, One Vol. Edition [including all of the
trilogy, as it is commonly called], by J.R.R. Tolkien; Last Call, by Tim Powers; Briar Rose, by Jane Yolen; a coursepack
including essays and tales; and at least one additional novel. Success in this course depends upon careful reading and
participation in our discussions. Be prepared to read at a pace of about one novel for every 2-3 course meetings. Written
requirements consist of 2 essay exams (midterm and final); 2 short response essays (3 pages), and one longer critical essay
(6-8 pages). English 390 is a general education course.
ENGL 395
Holocaust Literature
Section A: MWF 9:30--R. Friedmann
Students will survey a selection of stories and poems as well as excerpts from diaries and memoirs that were written in
response to the systematic destruction of European Jewry by the Nazis during the Second World War. The aim of this study
of literature, mostly written by authors who experienced the Holocaust firsthand, will be to show how the literary imagination
can be used to serve facts and render historical experience, as opposed to literature that uses historical experience to serve
literary ends and make fictions more believable. In addition, students will learn about the particular literary traditions from
which these writers drew to make sense of their experiences. Some of the authors students will study include Elie Wiesel,
Primo Levi, Cynthia Ozick, Paul Celan, Abraham Sutzkever, Nelly Sachs, Ida Fink, Isaiah Spiegel, S.Y. Agnon, and Aharon
Appelfeld.
ENGL 399
Exploring Creativity
Section A: U 3:55-6:45--S. Rodgers
(Obtain Permission from the Honors Program in Leasure 007) In this honors course we will explore the concept of
creativity across an array of disciplines. Classes may include guest lecturers from psychology, theater, dance, music, art, and
architecture. Students will have the opportunity to attend at least two K-State theater/dance productions outside of class time.
Assignments include weekly readings and journals, and individual semester-long projects that students will develop in
conjunction with the professor. English 399 is a General Education course.
ENGL 400
Expository Writing for Prospective Teachers
Section A: TU 2:30-3:45--R. Mosher
Expository Writing for Teachers will ask you to both study and practice the writing process. The aim of this class is to
help prepare you to teach writing through studying and discussing composition and rhetoric theory, and practicing the
techniques we talk and read about. We will do five major writing assignments.
ENGL 415
Written Communication for Engineers
Section A: MWF 9:30; Section B: MWF 10:30; Section D: MWF 11:30--S. Anderson
Section C: MWF 10:30; Section E: MWF 1:30; Section F: MWF 2:30--R. Friedmann
Section G: TU 9:30-10:45, Section H: TU 11:30-12:45; Section I: TU 1:05-2:20--M. Reekie
Restricted to juniors and seniors in the College of Engineering. This pre-professional writing course provides intensive
study of and practice in the techniques and forms characteristic of professional practice. See instructors for further course and
section details.
English 417
Written Communication for the Workplace
Section A: MWF: 10:30; Section B: 11:30--H. Yu;
Section C: MWF 12:30; Section D: MWF 1:30--Staff
Section E: TU 11:30-12:45--Staff [For Section E, permission obtained from Pat Pesci, Justin 103]
ENGL 417 explores writing genres commonly used in professional workplaces, for instance, correspondences (letters,
memos, and emails), business proposals, and reports. The class will study how these genres are shaped by and shape
workplace practices, help you gain and improve research skills, and help you learn to understand and write effectively for
similar yet inevitably different workplace contexts. You will complete readings, class discussion / activities, writing
exercises, and writing projects.
ENGL 435
Linguistics for Teachers
Section A: MWF 12:30--C. Russell
This course will acquaint prospective teachers of secondary English with the history, structure, and use of the English
language. We will discuss the nature of language, as well as how it is acquired, both as a first and a second language; how
and why language changes, and how the English language in particular has changed (and continues to change today); why
different varieties of (mostly American) English have developed, and why they continue to be used; how language and
culture are related; and how linguistics can be used as a pedagogical and diagnostic tool in the classroom. This is not a
methods course, but it will give you a considerable amount of information regarding how the scientific study of language can
be brought to bear in the English classroom. Three tests, one paper, one project, and journal writing.
ENGL 440
The Graphic Novel
Section A: MWF 2:30--P. Nel
After paying some attention to the genre's history (selections of early luminaries like Rodolphe Topffer, Frans
Masereel, and Lynd Ward), this course will focus on the golden age of the graphic novel, beginning in the late 1970s and
continuing to the present day, with a particular emphasis on recent works. Texts may include Will Eisner's A Contract with
God (1978), Frank Miller's Batman: The Dark Knight Returns (1986), Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' Watchmen (1987),
Art Spiegelman's Maus I & II (1986, 1991), Osamu Tezuka's Buddha Vol. 1 (1987, English transl. 2003), Paul Karasik and
David Mazzucchelli's Paul Austera's City of Glass (1994), Craig Thompson's Good-by Chunky Rice (1999), Marjane
Satrapi's Persepolis (2001, English transl. 2003), Alison Bechdel's Fun Home (2006), Jeff Smith's Bone: Out from Boneville
(2003), Chris Ware's Jimmy Corrigan (2000), Bill Willingham's Fables: Legends in Exile (2002), Gene Luen Yang's
American Born Chinese (2006), Bryan Lee O'Malley's Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2005), Lynda Barry's 100 Demons
(2002), and Brian Selznick's The Invention of Hugo Cabret (2007). Critical texts will include Scott McCloud's
Understanding Comics (1993) and Mark Newgarden and Paul Karaisk's "How to Read Nancy" (1988). Requirements
include but are not limited to weekly quizzes, midterm, final, short paper, and longer paper. English 440 is a General
Education course.
ENGL 440
Harry Potter's Library
Section B: TU 11:30-12:45--N. Wood
This course examines the Harry Potter phenomenon in context. We'll begin with a classic school story--Tom Brown's
Schooldays--and read important twentieth-century British fantasy from writers such as E. Nesbit, C.S. Lewis, and Roald
Dahl. Obviously, we'll read the Harry Potter series, but we'll also look at other important contemporary writing by writers
such as Philip Pullman, Diana Wynne Jones, and Jonathan Stroud. Before the first class, you should have read Harry Potter
and the Sorcerer's Stone and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Close reading and critical analysis will be
emphasized; success in the course depends upon full participation in discussion, careful and critical reading, and excellent
writing. Quizzes, electronic message board, a paper, and two exams. English 440 is a General Education course.
ENGL 461
Introduction to Fiction Writing
Section A: MWF 1:30; Section B: MWF 2:30--I. Rahman
This course involves the study of narrative structure and craft as well as practical experience in writing short stories. We
will discuss the nature of fiction and narrative, using the work of professional writers as examples. We will write—a lot—
both in class and outside of class, using various brainstorming techniques, exercises, collaborations, and writing triggers to
help you generate material and develop your writing voice. You will write several short pieces as well as one completed short
story that will be workshopped in class. Other course requirements include written and oral critiques of your classmate’
stories, written responses to weekly readings, and active class participation. Authors will also meet with the instructor for
individual manuscript conferences.
ENGL 463
Introduction to Poetry Writing
Section A: MWF 10:30--J. Holden
The class consists of 8 assignments, each of which gives the student a “model” poem and asks the student to imitate that
model. The models are carefully chosen. Each is significantly different from the previous one. These models cover all the
major conventions which comprise the contemporary tradition. “Models” consist of poems by Brendan Galvin, Tim Seibles,
Louis Simpson, Yusef Komunyakaa, Robert Mezey, William Stafford, Bin Ramke, E.A. Robinson, Edgar Lee Masters, Li Po
(trans. by Ezra Pound), Randall Jarrell, Ted Kooser, Robert Frost, Gwendolyn Brooks, Alexander Pope, W.C. Williams, E.E.
Cummings, Robert Creeley, Wallace Stevens, and Stephen Dunn.
The class is hard, exerts pressure: one fresh poem every two weeks. The poems can be revised or rewritten as
necessary, and the grade of the rewrite replaces the grade of the original. The intent is to minimize raw talent as a factor in
the grades, because each assignment is graded according to objective “criteria.”
ENGL 463
Introduction to Poetry Writing
Section B: TU 1:05-2:20--E. Dodd
Open to English Majors and Minors, as well as interested students from other disciplines. The course is just as the title
suggests, an introduction to poetry writing. That is, we'll focus on imagery, metaphor, meter, tone, concrete detail, and other
elements vital to good poetry, and the poetry assignments will provide an opportunity for writers to use these fundamentals
again and again. Assignments may include an object poem, poem in response to art, a sonnet or villanelle, a prose poem, a
persona poem, etc. Additionally, there will be much discussion of contemporary poetry, occasional quizzes over the readings,
and specific assignments to give students practice with the fundamentals. While no particular experience in writing poems is
necessary, students should genuinely enjoy reading and writing.
ENGL 469
Writing For Television
Section A: TU 3:55-5:10--A. Reckling
A creative and analytical course that enables students to study and develop screenwriting skills on the micro level for
the small screen. In this course students learn to employ theory and terminology of episodic comedy as they offer verbal and
written analysis of teleplays and their corresponding episodes, and then go on to develop their own original premise, story,
outline, and scenes for a live action show. Texts include a guide to writing comedy for the small screen, articles on featured
series, discussion guidelines, teleplays, and produced episodes. Students are required to attend screenings, participate in class
discussions, make oral presentations, and create a portfolio of original written work in a variety of specific technical formats.
In addition to exams, student work progresses by portfolio component to final submission of new original material in which
all participants are required to offer written analysis of their own creative choices.
ENGL 490
Development of the English Language
Section A: MWF 11:30--D. Potts
This course is an introduction to the many ways that the English language has changed and developed through its 1,500year history. After acquiring the tools necessary to study linguistic change, we'll talk first about where English comes from
and how it's related to other of the world's languages, then consider in some detail the development of the sounds, words, and
grammar of English as they have been influenced by the forces both inside and outside the language. Later we'll discuss the
role prescriptivism has played in the development of the language, present-day English -- including American and British
English, other varieties of English, and American dialects. Students will use one textbook and one workbook, write three
exams, do homework exercises, and compile a journal of their experiences with the changing English language.
ENGL 516
Written Communication for the Sciences
Section A: MWF 8:30; Section B: MWF 9:30; Section C: MWF 10:30--N. Ransom
A pre-professional writing course intended to acquaint students from a number of disciplines with the types of writing
they will be doing in their professional lives. Assignments focus on audience, purpose, and content and cover a range of
formats (memos, letters of various sorts, short and long reports based on research in the students' fields, as well as
assignments centered around such reports). Assignments also include an oral presentation based on research.
ENGL 525
Women in Literature
Section A: TU 1:05-2:20--B. Nelson
From the fictional Millamant in “Way of the World” (1700) to the essayist and novelist Virginia Woolf, women have
recognized the necessity of “A Room of One’s Own.” We will explore the roles and status of women in England and
America during the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries. We will see how women writers themselves struggled through the
restrictions of their society, and we will see developing a women’s literary tradition, a quiet sisterhood that made possible
each succeeding century’s women writers. Requirements: A good deal of fascinating reading and discussion, a two-part
midterm, a critical essay, and a final. English 525 is a General Education course.
ENGL 545
Literature for Adolescents
Section A: TU 9:30-10:45; Section B: T 7:05-9:55--A. Phillips
English 545 is designed to introduce students to literature that features adolescents as protagonists and depicts
conditions and situations familiar to adolescents. Students will study key authors and texts in the field of adolescent literature,
acquiring knowledge of both middle school- and high school-appropriate literature and developing expertise in wielding
literary theory in a concrete, useful fashion. We'll study some classic works, Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye, Lee's To Kill
a Mockingbird and Cormier's The Chocolate War; we'll screen films such as Rebel Without a Cause. We'll also survey
quality works of literature by such authors as Katherine Paterson, Chris Crutcher, Robert Lipsyte, S. Morgenstern, and Walter
Dean Myers that draw thought-provoking connections between adolescence and culture. Requirements: reading quizzes,
participation, two papers, two midterm exams, and a final. This class is required for secondary education majors, but others
are certainly welcome to enroll. English 545 is a General Education course.
ENGL 620
Jacobean Drama
Section A: MWF 11:30--D. Hedrick
If you were whisked back to the turn of the seventeenth century London on a Friday night, looking for entertainment, would
you really want to limit your choices to plays by Shakespeare? Seriously, folks, Shakespeare’s greatness as the English National
Poet was not fully established until the eighteenth century, and in his own time his rivals in the theater were amazing, influential
writers well worth our attention. It’s a damn shame his cultural authority has often had the effect of obscuring or excluding them.
Until now... The playwright’s names may not be as familiar (Marlowe, Jonson, Beaumont, Fletcher, Middleton, Webster,
and Ford), but the stories and premises are as exciting and even lurid as ever, sometimes funnier, sometimes bloodier, than
Shakespeare ever was:
• the superhero who conquered the world, used its kings as footstools, and burned the Koran;
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the star-crossed lovers, doomed not from feuding families, but because brother and sister
the heroine who smokes, swears, dresses like a man, and refuses to marry
the brilliant intellectual who gave up his university life to sell his soul to the devil
the revenger with a skull, not for reflection, but since it is the skull of his murdered girlfriend
the grocer couple demanding a play be rewritten on the spot to star their young apprentice
the duchess who married below her class, was tortured and driven mad, by her own brothers
a comedy so gender-bending that its title means “neither male nor female”
We will study and discuss selected examples from the period, beginning with a brief consideration of the earlier, influential
drama of Marlowe, proceeding to the “humour” and “city” comedies, blood revenge tragedies, and often “dark,” even cynical
materials of the Jacobean era. Attention will be given to issues of performance and entertainment (with some opportunities for
brief performance), and, through selected documentary materials and criticism, to the radical historical ideas informing the plays
and their era: proto-feminism, communism and democracy, religious skepticism, and anti-monarchicalism. There will be short
exercises or reports, two hour exams and a final (any part of which may be take-home), and a shorter and somewhat longer paper
(for graduate students, the latter paper to be more thoroughly researched and of conference-presentation quality).
ENGL 645
Readings in Nineteenth-Century American Literature and Culture
Section A: U 7:05-9:55--G. Eiselein
At the heart of this course are the key events and movements that changed the course of U.S. history and culture in the
nineteenth- century: the aftermath of the American Revolution, Transcendentalism, Indian removal, slavery and abolitionism,
the Civil War and its aftermath, immigration, lynching and Jim Crow, Pragmatism, and imperialism. We will examine the
ways in which literature was a part of the culture, the ways literature represented culture, and the ways literature made,
shaped, or re-shaped the nineteenth century. In other words, we will consider not only how literature might be a "reflection"
of culture, but also how texts work in their culture as agents or obstacles for change. The authors to be studied include Irving,
Sedgwick, Emerson, Thoreau, Fuller, Douglass, Whitman, Louisa May Alcott, Lazarus, Anna Julia Cooper, Martí, William
James, and Crane. Course requirements include two examinations, two papers, and some shorter writing assignments.
ENGL 660
George Eliot
Section A: T 7:05-9:55--A. Longmuir
George Eliot is widely recognized as one of the most important British writers of the nineteenth century. We will study
a number of Eliot’s novels, including Silas Marner, Adam Bede, The Mill on the Floss, Middlemarch, Felix Holt: The
Radical, and Daniel Deronda, and a selection of her non-fiction. In particular, we will consider Eliot’s work in its historical,
political and philosophical context, with reference to her own unconventional lifestyle, issues of gender and education,
religion, and realism.
Requirements: two short analytical papers, a presentation, a research paper, and a final examination.
ENGL 661
Advanced Creative Writing/Fiction
Section A: T 3:55-6:45--S. Rodgers
Advanced writing of short fiction. Prerequisite: English 461 and instructor permission. This course will combine
workshop discussion of student stories with the study of form and technique. We will read and discuss contemporary short
fiction as well as essays on craft and the creative process. Requirements include 2-3 short stories, writing exercises, written
critiques of workshopped stories, participation, and a brief presentation.
ENGL 663
Advanced Creative Writing/Poetry
Section A: MWF 12:30--J. Holden
The text will be The Best American Poetry: 2003, edited by Yusef Komunyakaa (Scribner 2003). The class will be run
like a poetry workshop. The students will write eight poems in the semester. In addition, students will study selected poems
in the text and write three "annotations" on these poems. This is the way things are done in the best poetry-writing classes in
the country. The reading component of the class is at least as serious as the writing component; because, in the end, the art of
writing is an art of reading.
ENGL 670
Women in the 18th Century
Section A: U 3:55-6:45--B. Nelson
Exciting exploration of the social, political, domestic, and literary roles of women in Restoration and 18th-Century
England as depicted by both male and female writers in periodicals, novels, drama, and political writings. The course's main
objective is to introduce students to lesser-known but important women writers whose contributions to the development of
the novel and the drama of the period were considerable. We will read novels by Fanny Burney, Elizabeth Inchbald, Sarah
Scott and Mary Hays--the predecessors of Jane Austen and the Brontes. We will look at women dramatists, starting with
Aphra Behn and ending with Elizabeth Inchbald, who was also the first female drama critic. We will read political writers of
the period as well--Mary Astell, Mary Wollstonecraft, and Mary Hays. We will also consider the backlash against emerging
feminism--not so different from the backlash we see today--in the work of some conservative women writers like Jane West
and Elizabeth Hamilton, who wrote what I designate as the "anti-Wollstonecraft novel." Two-part midterm; Final; and a
Critical Essay project on an area of special interest to student. This course also counts towards the Graduate Certificate in
Women's Studies.
ENGL 680
Latina/o Literature
Section A: MWF 10:30--T. Gonzalez
This course is a survey of Latina/o Literature and Criticism from the late 19th Century to the present. We will read
literature from Mexican Americans, Chicanas/os and Latinas/os from Cuban, Dominican, Peruvian, and Puerto Rican
descent. Along with these texts we will read history and criticism that helps us understand Latina/o Studies as a discipline.
Requirements for this course are active class participation, three short essays, annotated bibliography, midterm, and
final exam.
ENGL 690
International Children’s Literature
Section A: MWF 2:30--E. Hateley.
In this course we will read a range of English-language children’s and young adult literature from around the world (e.g.
South Africa, New Zealand, Ireland), and work towards developing multicultural competencies as defined by the Tilford
Group (see http://www.k-state.edu/tilford/MulticulturalCompetencies.htm). Texts read may include Does My Head Look Big
in This? and The Day Gogo Went to Vote. In doing so, we will consider the ways in which understandings of “the child” and
“the nation” are used to reinforce or interrogate received ideas about society and culture. You will be introduced to
theoretical and critical concepts such as “authenticity,” “diversity,” “hybridity,” and “postcolonialism,” and some of the ways
such concepts may help us approach children’s literature as critical readers and thinkers. Assessment will include an oral
presentation, papers, and exams.
ENGL 710
Critical Approaches to Children's Literature
Section A: TU 1:05-2:20--N. Wood
English 710 provides the tools for advanced study of children's literature. Because it is a 700-level class, this course is
intended primary for graduate students. It will focus on distinctive issues in treating children's literature as an academic
subject. General themes: nonsense and pastoral, didacticism and pleasure, orality and literacy, old and new historicisms,
questions of audience, issues of equity and diversity. Theorists will probably include excerpts and full articles from Freud,
Jung, and their heirs; from Foucault; Jacqueline Rose, Susan Stewart, Peter Hunt, Ruth Bottigheimer, W.J.T. Mitchell, Henry
Louis Gates, and Rudine Sims Bishop.
Texts being considered: Uncle Remus, His Songs and Sayings; Charles Perrault, Tales From My Mother Goose; Grimm
Brothers, Children's and Household Stories; Hans Christian Andersen, Tales; Maria Edgeworth, The Parent's Assistant;
Louisa May Alcott, Little Women; Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland; J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan; Louise Fitzhugh, Harriet the
Spy; Virginia Hamilton, Zeely; Marilyn Nelson, A Wreath for Emmett Till; Christopher Crowe, Mississippi Trial 1955;
Christopher Crowe, Getting Away with Murder.
Evaluation: active class participation, message board or journals, a conference-length paper(s), exams.
ENGL 755
Rhetorical Theory
Section A: MWF 9:30--D. Smit
We will study the three elements (the rhetorical situation, the audience, and “proofs”; or ethos, pathos, and logos) and five
canons (invention, arrangement, style, memory, and delivery) of rhetoric during the classical period—Aristotle, Plato, and the
Sophists—trace the evolution of these concepts from the medieval period through the nineteenth century, and then focus on three key
theories of the twentieth century: epistemic rhetoric, feminist rhetoric, and genre theory, and two major theorist of the period:
Kenneth Burke, and Barry Brummett. You will make a classroom presentation, write a major paper, and take a midterm and final
exam.
ENGL 759
Studies in Technical Communication
Section A: MWF 1:30--H. Yu
ENGL 759 is designed to address the different and multiple needs of students interested in technical communication.
The course discusses the history, current debate, and future of technical communication, introduces the fundamental theories
and the pedagogy of the discipline, and engages you in producing technical communication deliverables. You will complete
reading / writing / research assignments. In addition, you will either complete a major technical communication project (such
as a feasibility report), or develop teaching materials (such as syllabi and assignments) for an undergraduate technical
communication course.
ENGL 761
Creative Writing Workshop: Short Story
Section A: M 7:05-9:55--I. Rahman
A writing workshop limited to 15 students, most of whom will be graduate students. Students will write original short
stories that will in turn be read and constructively critiqued by their instructor and peers. In addition to workshop, we will
read and discuss contemporary short stories paying close attention to various elements of craft---structure, voice, point of
view, narrative drive, sentence construction, etc. Course requirements include two short stories; weekly creative readingresponses; written critiques of classmates’ work; regular participation in workshop discussion; and an in-class presentation of
a collection of short fiction by a single author published in the last ten to fifteen years. Each graduate student will also
examine and report on a literary magazine or journal, selected in consultation with the instructor.
ENGL 765
Creative Writing Workshop: Nonfiction
Section A: TU 9:30-10:45--E. Dodd
This writing workshop offers advanced practice and discussion of literary nonfiction. Course requirements will include
2-3 essays, class discussion of a book of contemporary nonfiction, and (for graduate students) a written review of a
nonfiction book published in the last 15 years. Instructor permission required. Undergraduates must have completed a
previous course in the genre; graduate students from all tracks are welcome but must receive instructor permission. Limited
to no more than 15 students.
ENGL 795
Literary Criticism
Section A: TU 11:30-12:45--L. Brigham
This course features, first, a broad historical framework for literary criticism (and literary theory) from classical times
through the twentieth-century structuralists and new critics. Second, it surveys a range of contemporary literary criticism and
theory, including deconstruction, race/class/gender criticism, queer theory, psychoanalytic criticism, sociological criticism—
and others. The course will continually strive to offset the abstraction of theoretical and critical movements through practical
application to literary texts, including fiction, poetry, and drama. The course is intended as an advanced introduction to
criticism and theory, and does not assume prior knowledge of particular critical or theoretical material.
ENGL 805
Practicum
Section A: M 3:30-5:50--P. Marzluf, S. Gray; Section B: M 3:30-5:50--D. Murray; Section C: M 3:30-5:50--R. Mosher;
Section D: M 3:30-5:50--C. Debes
Required of GTAs teaching Expository Writing in the English Department. Instruction in the theory and practice of
teaching in a university expository writing program. Repeatable. Prerequisite: Graduate status and a GTAship in the English
Department.
ENGL 825
Seminar: World War I American Literature
Section A: TU 2:30-3:45--T. Dayton
The First World War has largely receded from popular memory in the U.S., but it was almost certainly the defining
historical event of the 20th century. The U.S. was directly involved in the war for a relatively short period of time: April
1917-November 1918. Yet the very nature of the war and of U.S. involvement in it posed a variety of difficult questions,
many of which were addressed in the essays, fiction, and poetry of the war and post-war era. In this seminar we will first
establish the historical background necessary for students to read the texts of this era with understanding, then go on to
examine the ways in which the war was understood, justified, and criticized in writing by authors ranging from the nowobscure-but-once-prominent (M.A. DeWolfe Howe, Henry van Dyke) to the always-obscure (Byron H. Comstock, Amelia
Josephine Burr) to the famous (Willa Cather, Ernest Hemingway). One presentation and one paper.
ENGL 825
Seminar: Hamlet and Its Contexts
Section B: W 7:05-9:55--K. Smith
Hamlet is many things to many people. It is arguably both the central play in the Shakespearean canon and one of the
central touchstones of western literature. It has been cited as both a precursor to Freud and a crucial step in the literary
revelation of what it means to be human. It has been honored, satirized, ridiculed, twisted like a pretzel, and thoroughly
enjoyed. In this course we’ll be doing a little of each. We’ll be exploring the historical and cultural context within which
Shakespeare wrote the play, paying special attention to its literary forebears and to its impact on later works. And we’ll be
conducting our own close reading of the play, trying to understand the mosaic of influences and insights, moments and
momentousness that makes up the play. This being a seminar, there will be a long paper, in-class presentations, a large
amount of reading, and a lot of discussion.